Ducau Zaoku
Early Life Ducau Zaoku is a male Nikto and Force sensitive. Born on the planet Kintan in 85 BBY, Ducau lived a rough life. He was born into a poor, lower class, family on the brink of financial failure. His father was a factory worker that helped produce speeder parts just for local companies, and his mother was a teacher. Ducau was discovered to be Force sensitive by his parents when he was just a toddler, where he’d use the Force to throw toys across rooms or the yard of his home. His parents kept it hidden from the public and his preschool. Ducau was bribed by his parents to keep it secret with minimal things like toys and treats, but was discovered by a police officer when he was the age of five. Ducau was on a field trip to the police station with his class and accidentally used the Force in public. A child wandered into the street and was about to be hit by a speeder when Ducau sensed the trouble, and used the Force to push the other child out of harm’s way. The police officer informed the Chief and the Jedi were informed. Ducau was taken away from his home within that week to spend the rest of his life on Coruscant with the Jedi Order. Life as a Jedi Ducau became an exceptional student and quickly became a padawan at the age of eight. He had a lot of discipline and respect for others, especially life. A human man named Vick Nytoris chose Ducau to be his padawan, and the two became the closest of friends. Vick was a young man, and connected with the Nikto. The two went on many missions throughout the Mid and Outer Rims to help ease tensions between local peoples on planets. When Ducau became a Knight around the age of twenty three (62 BBY), he became fascinated in the political structure of the Galactic Republic. He became more involved in helping the government coordinate negotiations and many sessions of the Senate. Ducau became close friends with the Vice Chair at the time, a female Togruta by the name Rhana, and fell in love with her. The two held a secret relationship for years until Ducau sensed that his future would be ruined if he continued. Ducau ended the relationship two years later, and found out that Rhana was killed in a shuttle crash while on vacation to Naboo. Ducau continued to remain close with the government, and continued to help out as much as he could in the Senate and many committees. Around the years proceeding to the Naboo Crisis in 34 BBY, Ducau became acquainted with many Outer Rim senators and acted as their mediator in solving regional and sectorial issues. The Jedi Council and Senate assigned Ducau to many missions throughout the Outer Rim, becoming friends with many such as Orn Free Ta of Ryloth, Aak Ask of Malastare, and many more. By 23 BBY, at the height of the Separatist Crisis, Ducau was assigned to hold negotiations with subsidiaries of the Trade Federation and Corporate Alliance. He managed to persuade the small companies, but before they could retaliate to the larger institutions, they were absorbed and effectively destroyed. Clone Wars During the Clone Wars, Ducau became heavily involved in securing membership for independent, neutral, and Confederate star systems to become part of the Republic. By doing so much interplanetary work for the Republic, Ducau worked closely with Chancellor Palpatine. Working so close to the Chancellor, Ducau sensed a strong disturbance with the man, but brushed it off as a superstition. He ignored the calling, and claimed it to be himself going insane after traveling so much around the Galaxy. One night in mid 19 BBY, Ducau had an extremely realistic nightmare of extragalactic beings invading the Galaxy, using terror and fear to control the people. They had weapons of mass destruction involving life terraforming and obliterated countless planets with their advanced technology. Upon waking up, Zaoku had a revelation about the relationship between the Sith and the Jedi. He knew that neither side would be able to stop the monsters alone, and secretly pledged to bridge the two orders to protect the Galaxy. The Bridging As the Clone Wars waned, Ducau managed to convert countless Jedi Knights and padawans to a state of mind not quite embracing the Dark Side. He recruited a woman from the far Outer Rim, Vakara, who was very strong in the Force. Ducau secretly taught her the ways of the Force, slightly imposing more self-power-motivated mindsets on the woman. Vakara became a strong leader in just a few years and founded the New Sith Order. The other Knights who joined her New Sith Order were granted the ranks of Master and elected her as their President. During the Clone Wars, Ducau went on to secretly teach another apprentice by the name Rholto. Rholto was a human male, young, and observant of the Force. Ducau taught him the ways of the Force, knowing that he’d need a second in command for Vakara in case she became out of the picture. When Palpatine was killed and Mothma became Chancellor, Ducau finished his training just about a year later. He made the mistake of letting Rholto loose to roam the Galaxy for the New Order of the Sith, where the young man became acquainted with the Dark Side of the Force through Palpatine’s spirit. Palpatine taught Rholto many things through visions and spiritual training, thusly crowning him as Darth Vindys. The now Dark Lord of the Sith revealed himself to his former master, but to Zaoku’s dismay, he brushed it off as the man being insane. Chancellorship In 17 BBY, Mon Mothma was assassinated by Darth Vindys in her home and it shocked the entire Republic. The Senate held an emergency session and debated fiercely on who to elect as their next Chancellor. The Republic was facing a major crisis with Separatist remnants that were ganging together and needed a strong leader to pull things together; yet without the Dark Side of the Force. The Senate took hours to elect Ducau, with their main reason because he has the Light Side of the Force as his guide and protector. Zaoku was honored to be given the position, and took the power by the reins. He began hunting down remaining Separatist leaders and eliminating them with his special task forces in the Clone Army. Ducau served for two terms of four years each, leaving the office in 9 BBY. Throughout his tenure, he accomplished many things. He successfully fought to downsize the overspending to the military and officially ended the Clone Wars. But with the downsizing of the military, the Senate took it for granted. Senators of the Core and Inner Rim held the most power and influence in the Republic, passing laws that limited Republic warships and troops to major worlds in their sectors. This left the Outer Rim utterly abandoned, with a total of eighteen fleets spread thin. Ducau felt terribly and felt as if he failed the Republic by doing this. The corrupt Senators took advantage of the de-militarization; whereas the Outer Rim systems embraced their freedom. With not as many systems under protection by the Republic, they were susceptible to pirates and gangs, with the most notorious being the Gundao Syndicate. The Gundao Syndicate targeted the wealthy planet of Mon Calamari, and their abundance of raw materials for ship-building. Zaoku left office when the Gundao Crisis became very intense with the Mon Calamari. His involvement in the Republic government became little if not nonexistent, for he wanted to concentrate on the Force and live in serenity at the Jedi Temple. Tamara Karsguard was his successor for the Chancellorship. Emperor of the Galactic Empire In 9 BBY, Tamara Karsguard committed suicide by throwing herself out the window of her office in the Republic Executive Building. The Inner Council held an emergency meeting with representatives from the Senate and Supreme Court and voted that Ducau become the next Chancellor. The Gundao Syndicate was on the verge of delivering a fatal blow to the Republic, and it was extremely important that someone with the right skills fix the state of the Galaxy. In that same day, Ducau knew that being Chancellor wasn't enough. For the past few years he'd been struggling with finding his true purpose in the universe, and also how he could prevent galactic devastation from the Second Galactic War. So, Chancellor Zaoku gave a message to the entire Galaxy; saying that the Republic wouldn't last any longer and could no longer function. The government was in turmoil, and the Syndicate was on their doorstep; attacking major Republic worlds left and right. The Chancellor announced his plans of reforming the Republic into the Empire, and how the Inner Council appointed him as its Emperor. Thus, the Empire was born. Without the constant fuss of politics blocking his way, the Emperor was able to turn the tide of the Second Galactic War. The Syndicate was now on the run, losing much of its territory, which in turn came to be known as the Galactic Demilitarized Zone. More people were being saved than ever, feeling ever so protected within the gigantic Empire. But, in order to turn the tide of the war, Ducau relied less on the principles of the Light Side of the Force, and more of his own principles. This kind of thinking changes Ducau, and soon leads to his inevitable crossroads of his destiny when he has to decide to remain on the Light Side, or embrace the Dark Side to destroy the Syndicate once and for all.